A gas turbine engine typically includes a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. Air entering the compressor section is compressed and delivered into the combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow. The fan section typically includes a plurality of fan blades that are supported within slots formed in a hub or rotating disk. The fan blades retained within the slots by a split ring. The split ring must be of sufficient stiffness to provide the desired retention. Disadvantageously, as fan sections grow larger, the stiffness of the retaining ring is also required to increase. Increases in required retaining ring stiffness can result in assembly difficulties.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a fan blade retention configuration that eases assembly while maintaining required retention strength.